Flights resume to Mekelle after Ethiopian forces retake Tigray capital from Tigray fighters
Ethiopian Airlines has restarted flights to Mekelle after federal forces regained control of the Tigray capital and its airport, restoring air links nearly three weeks after Tigray fighters seized the city.
Commercial flights are landing again in Mekelle after Ethiopian federal forces retook the Tigray regional capital and its airport, reconnecting the city to the rest of the country after an almost three‑week shutdown.
Passengers arrived at Mekelle airport on 12 October as Ethiopian Airlines resumed services. The national carrier had suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum and Hire after fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front seized Mekelle and its airfield on 23 September.
Federal forces have since re‑established control over the city and the airport, which has allowed civilian air traffic to restart. That brings back an air link that residents and humanitarian actors rely on in a region marked by repeated disruptions.
The airline’s moves track closely with the security picture. Its earlier suspension followed the advance by Tigray forces, and the decision to fly again indicates that authorities now judge the airport and its surroundings secure enough to operate, at least for the moment.
The change in control doesn’t resolve the wider contest over power and security in Tigray. The September seizure of Mekelle showed that Tigray forces retain the ability to mount offensive operations, while the federal recapture underlined Addis Ababa’s determination to reverse such gains when it can.
For people in and around Mekelle, these swings in control affect who runs services, which routes are open, and how easy it is to move in and out of the region. A functioning airport offers access to medical care elsewhere, business travel and family visits that are harder or sometimes impossible when land routes are disrupted by checkpoints or fighting.
How stable this reopening is will depend on whether the front lines shift again, whether the airport can be kept secure against further attacks, and whether authorities use this period of restored connectivity to support a more predictable pattern of movement. Any fresh suspension of flights to Mekelle, Axum or Hire would be an early sign that conditions on the ground have deteriorated again.
Sources
- OSINT